Children Are the Wise Ones
by Chime
Summary: Ron and Hermione race across the grounds and find out things they never expected from each other.


"Children Are the Wise Ones", by Chime  
  
Author's Note: I don't believe that love always comes with fireworks and clammy hands. If you think that the Ron or Hermione slips out of character sometimes, please remember that two years is a lot of time to change, especially for teenagers. Enjoy, and please review for me. Thanks! Updated 02-05-02 on the suggestions of an anonymous reviewer (thank you for your time in pointing out my mistakes, I really do appreciate it), pertaining to Hermione's and Ron's ages, and some minor grammatical errors, and I re-uploaded it in HTML format. Updated 02-27-02 - A few grammar changes.   
  
All characters in the Harry Potter series are exclusively the property of J.K. Rowling.  
  
  
  
Hermione and Ron stepped out of the double doors of Hogwarts. Ron grinned at Hermione, then leapt over the five steps leading to the ground and turned to face her.   
  
"Come on, 'Mione. Let's see you jump them, eh?"  
  
Hermione gave Ron a mock icy stare and rolled her eyes. "Some of us don't have your _fantastic_ abilities, Ron. I think I'll pass." She smiled and stepped down in a deliberately dignified manner. Ron made a silly face at her, which she pointedly ignored, and they began to walk across the grounds to the lake. They were silent for a minute, enjoying their argue free time together, and then Ron turned to her.  
  
"Hey Hermione, lets race? Out to that big tree between the Forbidden Forest and the lake? The biggest oak?"  
  
It was her turn to make a face. "Really, Ron, we're not little children. We're sixteen, and at least ONE of us should act like a mature young person. And besides, you'll win."  
  
He gave her a pleading look. "Come on, Hermione. I promise I'll go slower then I normally would. It's a great day for a run though, isn't it? Nice out here, it is." He spread his arms, as if to emphasize this point. "Much nicer then what poor Harry's doing right now, right? So lets have fun for him, shall we?"  
  
Hermione began to protest this argument, but before she could get more then "What -" out of her mouth, Ron had grabbed her hand and began to walk fast ahead of her. She resisted only a moment, and then she pulled her hand away, gave a furtive look around, and sprinted ahead of Ron, laughing. Surprised that she had actually decided to go along with him, he began to laugh, and ran to catch up with her. Though Ron's legs were longer, Hermione had gotten a head start, and for a few moments, Ron watched her dark bushy hair stream out behind her.   
  
He watched her for a few seconds. _Her hair's gotten longer. It's nice_, he thought. Then he grinned even wider, and began to run to catch up with her. Hermione giggled as Ron came up next to her, then zoomed ahead, his cloak billowing in the little wind that there was, and from his exertions. Though he was ahead of her very quickly, he began to slow down, till he was equal with her. His jogging, she noticed, was her running. This only made her laugh more, and Ron winked at her, and then sprinted ahead again. He soon disappeared over a small hill, and Hermione slowed to a walk, smiling. She came over the hill, and saw the tree he had been referring to.  
  
Still breathing hard from running, Hermione sat down hard on the soft grass in front of the tree with a "Humph!", and then crawled around to the other side, looking for Ron. He wasn't on the other side... and he was nowhere in view of the tree. Hermione's brow furrowed. _Where could he be? He was right ahead of me... oh no! We're so close to the Forbidden Forest, what if something came out and…_ Suddenly, she heard a soft rustling above her head. She turned upwards swiftly, but not swiftly enough. She screamed as Ron pounced down next to her, dissolving into laughed as he did.   
  
"Ronald whatever-your-middle-name-is Weasley! That's **not **funny! I was worried about you! Anything could have come out of the forest, Ron! Don't DO that!"  
  
He frowned. "Hermione, come on... it was a joke. Don't be mad, eh? We haven't had a fight since breakfast, I was getting used to it!"  
  
She couldn't keep a straight face. "Ron, honestly, it's only eleven - that was two hours ago."  
  
"Yea, like I said - was getting used to it."  
  
"Oh no, Ron, we don't fight **that **often!"  
  
"Yes we do!"  
  
"No we don't!"  
  
Ron grinned and put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it momentarily.   
  
"Yes", he concluded. "We do."  
  
Hermione smiled at him and shrugged off the small tightening in her belly that had occurred when Ron had squeezed her shoulder. She didn't think about him that way, it was just, well, girls sometimes got silly notions... even the smart ones, right?   
  
Ron continued, not noticing her smile falter momentarily, and flopped down on his back on the grass. Hermione settled down on her stomach, and looked into the Forbidden Forest. "You don't know my middle name, 'Mione? I should be offended!"  
  
"You've never told me, and I've never had the overwhelming desire to raid your undergarment drawer to see if your mum's stitched your full name in them, Ron. What is it, anyway?"  
  
"Well, you've lost out, not checking my skivvies, Hermione. In addition to being an _alluring_ shade of maroon, they've all got my full name stitched in them. You'll have to guess it I suppose."   
  
She began to protest, but he interrupted her. "We don't have anything else to do, right? Or would you rather run back to the castle and get your books, and bring them out here? Wait, wait – ignore that last part, would you?"  
  
She sighed. "I could be studying for my N.E.W.T's right now, you know."  
  
"Yes, but then you wouldn't have any fun. So lets start. I'll give you a hint, it starts with an M."  
  
"Matthew."  
  
"Nope."  
  
Martin.  
  
"Na."  
  
"Michael."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
It went on like this for many minutes, but eventually Hermione stopped trying. The sun was shining through the trees, and the warmth was making her drowsy. As she had been up late studying the previous night, she began to drift off, her head sitting on top of her hands. She was suddenly woken by a low sound coming from Ron.  
  
She sat up, and pushed back a lock of hair. "Whazzat?"  
  
He was looking out at the forest. "It's Marnique. Ronald Marnique Weasley. Weird, huh?" He turned to her. "I'll get bored if you fall asleep, Hermione. Come on; climb the tree with me then?"  
  
Hermione shook her head, still drowsy, and began the argument she had tried to use for racing to the tree. "Not lil' kids, Ron. Not gonna climb the Brea."  
  
Ron snorted. "I'm not asking you to climb cheese, 'Mione. I'd never even ask you to climb a steak and kidney pie. What kind of gentleman would propose a lady climb dairy products?"  
  
She sat up. "Huh? Ron, what are you talking about?"  
  
Ron smiled. "You said you weren't going to climb the 'Brea'."  
  
"Did not."  
  
"Did…" he grimaced slightly. "No way, not this again. I'm going to make the effort to not argue about this one, Hermione, even though I'm right. Anyway… about what you said about little kids? They really know how to live, they do. You loose that when you get older, but kids are really the wise ones. Just running around, doing what they want, saying what they feel. Kids are great. You can get smart, but you could become dull after a while."  
  
Hermione rolled onto her back in the grass, eyes still closed, and smiled. Ron had been surprising her for the last year with shockingly true moments of insight, and perhaps some day in the future, she'd get used to it.  
  
He laughed and scrambled up the large trunk and shortly situated himself on a bough about four meters from the ground.   
  
Hermione stood up, and stretched languidly, eyes closed. Ron was surprised to find he was staring at her lithe body, shrouded in her robes and her pretty face with those long, beautiful eyelashes. He turned his head away, and started into the Forbidden Forest again. That was the second time today, and one of many times this month that he had looked at her and had to force himself to look away. He rested his head against the bark that was so cool in comparison to his face. _Still blushing like a little kid, Ickle Ronnikins. She's the best friend you've ever had, next to Harry, don't you dare mess it up by being attracted to her, even if it is just physical. He ignored the whispering voice in the back of his head that told him it would never be just physical._  
  
Hermione had finished stretching, and was looking up at Ron. He was staring into the Forbidden Forest, as if she weren't even there. She wasn't hurt, because she knew Ron got like this sometimes. Not a lot, of course, and mostly just recently... and it seemed that it never happened around Harry. She always wondered what he was thinking when he got like this. She had a suspicion that he was thinking about his family, and how people see him next to Harry. She knew he didn't blame him, but it was still hard, wasn't it? One best friend is the savior many in the wizarding world, the other was a prefect and head of her class. And he was the youngest son of a poor family, always expected to live up to his brothers.   
  
Ron suddenly looked down at her and grinned. "Come on, 'Mione! Get up here, would you? There's a good view, I'll bet, if we go up higher."  
  
"As convincing as your argument is, I'm afraid that I'll have to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. I'm not as willing as you to rip my robes and fall out of a tree and break my neck."  
  
"Aw, 'Mione, please? Please? Pretty please with a stinky mountain troll on top?"  
  
Hermione gave a false grimace and laughed, but flatly refused to ascend into the huge tree. Ron patiently pleaded for a few minutes with her, then acquiesced, and lay down best he could on a fairly horizontal bough. Satisfied, Hermione sat down with her back against the trunk, and took a small book out of her pocket. She began to leaf through it, finally stopping, and began to read to herself. Before she had gotten halfway down the page, however, heard Ron's voice, oddly fragmented, above her.  
  
_"Wingardium Leviosa"_  
  
Before she had even registered what he had said, she was rising into the air. Surprised, she kicked her legs a bit, to no avail. She turned in the air, awkwardly waving her arms back and forth, and looked up at Ron. Because of her weight, she was hovering only a few feet in the air, but this was enough to make her cross.   
  
"Ronald Marnique Weasley! Put me down NOW"  
  
"Nothin' doin', Hermione." Ron laughed. "I tried to ask nice, didn't I? The only way you can get down now is to climb the tree first, and then maybe you can climb down." Hermione gasped as she felt her body drop a few inches.  
  
"For goodness sake, Ron, if you're going to levitate me, at least concentrate better so I don't fall and break something!"  
  
Ron smiled, but apparently began to concentrate harder. His face hardened and his eyes seemed almost to darken, and Hermione raised another foot in the air. Even though she disapproved of Ron's tactics in getting her in the tree, she began to laugh. She had never been adept at riding a broomstick, and a Fizzing Whizbee would only lift you so high, but this felt nice.   
  
Hermione's logic kicked in. Wingardium Leviosa was a fairly weak spell, so it would take a lot power to hold this much weight up for as long as he was. Had he been using a different levitating spell, he wouldn't have much trouble controlling heavy weights, but she was beginning to fear that Ron was going to tire himself out.  
  
"Ron, stop it, please? You're going to exhaust yourself." She rolled her eyes and grabbed onto the bough he was sitting on, before she could float over it. With a sigh from Ron, the feeling of weightlessness left her abruptly and she dropped onto the branch. Ron turned to her, and treated her to a lopsided grin.   
  
Exasperated, she smacked him softly on the back. "You should have used a different levitation spell, you know. That one is too weak – you have to put more power from yourself into it, rather the using the actual power of the spell. It might work for a troll's club, but a anything over fifty pounds will tire you out quickly."  
  
He sighed softly again and his head drooped. "You don't say. Good thing I have you to help me study for my N.E.W.T.s." He straightened. "But, it's always good to learn from experience, eh?"  
  
She smiled. "Yes, I guess that's the case sometimes. What time do you think Harry will be out?"  
  
Ron scowled. "Who knows? That'd damned git Snape had no reason to give Harry a detention so early in the morning. Bloody tree o'clock my arse. He hasn't really been feeling well lately, either. It sounded like he'd be in bed all day if he got to choose."  
  
Hermione smiled. "Ron, kidney punching Malfoy is a reason, isn't it?"  
  
"Not a good one, it's not. And don't forget, I split his lip and would have knocked out teeth, if Snape hadn't jumped on us. Stupid git."  
  
"When do you serve your detention?"  
  
"Oh, tomorrow night. He'll probably have me do something horribly terribly awful. Nothing new."  
  
Hermione rested her head against a neighboring bough and closed her eyes. "You know, as much as I wish you three could settle disputes without violence, I can't help but adore you two for the things you do in my defense."  
  
Ron cleared his throat and, though he didn't mean to, whispered, "We don't mind." He turned his head again to the forest.  
  
Eyes still closed, Hermione addressed him. "Ron, what were you thinking about, when you were up in the tree and I was on the ground?"  
  
Ron choked. "I... erm..."  
  
Hermione opened her eyes. "It was about your family, wasn't it? Do you think about it a lot?"  
  
Ron held back a relieved sigh. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah, I 'spose I do. I feel bad, because I know my mum and dad deserve so much more then what they've got. They deserve money, they deserve a nice roomy house, they deserve a gnome-free yard and a million house elves." His voice dropped. "They deserve all of their sons to be great, not just most of them. They deserve stuff that I can't give them." After this, his head dropped.  
  
"Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if my mum hadn't had me, you know? One less child, and more to go around for the rest. One less to worry about and take care of. Sometimes I feel like I should fade out, like I don't match. Bill is smart; Charlie's got a great job. Percy's dedicated to everything he can be dedicated to, and everyone loves Fred and George, as much as they complain about them. Everybody loves Ginny. All of my siblings are special, except for me. All I'm special for is the things I'm not. I'm not Harry Potter – I'm his best friend. I'm not the cleverest wizard in school – she's my other best friend. I'm not smart, I'm not talented. I'm not even very brave. All I've got is my temper, and fifteen maroon sweaters, and a family that loves me for reasons I don't know. All I can do is take from them, I can't really give back."  
  
He lifted his head and turned away. Hermione gaped at him, open-mouthed. She had never heard him talk like this, and never thought he would feel this away about himself. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought he felt this way. To hate being poor, that was one thing.. but this was another all together. She sighed, and with little warning, her eyes brimmed with tears, that began to flow over. She put her hands on Ron's shoulder and pulled his back into her. Her back was against a branch perpendicular to the one she was sitting on, and she slowly pulled Ron towards her, so they were back to front.   
  
Ron gasped. He had been looking into the forest again, wondering why he had told Hermione all of that. Now she would think he was weak, and nothing else. A few rogue tears had dropped down the side of his face, when suddenly he felt her hands on his shoulders, pulling him back. He didn't resist – he couldn't even breathe. Her face was in the crook of his neck, and to his surprise, there were hot tears dropping against his right collarbone. Her hair was all around him, and suddenly, that was all that mattered. He closed his eyes and his body shuddered as he cried. Her hands were in his hair, scratching his head softly, and she was humming under her breath. Slowly, his tears tapered off. Hermione's hands did not leave his hair, but gently scratched and smoothed it down.   
  
Really, it didn't matter how much time passed – neither of them cared, so why should we? Finally, Ron brought a large hand up to his face, and wiped away the few tears that were left. Hermione lifted her head and giggled.   
  
Ron turned and smiled questioningly at her.   
  
"My-" she was overcome by giggles. "Oh Ron! My rear hurts!"  
  
Ron stared at her for a moment, and then began to laugh as well. "We might do fine to get out of the tree then… eh 'Mione?" His eyes shone as he looked at her. "Hey Hermione?"  
  
"Yes, Ron?"  
  
"Thanks. That felt good. You made me feel good." His cheeks colored. "Scratching my head, that made me want to sleep… reminded me of when I was a little kid. My mum used to do that when I was upset. I'd always fall asleep, it makes me feel like I'm floating."  
  
Hermione grinned mischievously. "Really? How about this?" Hermione pulled her wand from her robes. _"Nidarnium Leviokanis"_  
  
Ron laughed as he was lifted from the tree, and under the guidance of Hermione's want, wafted out over to the shore of the lake.   
  
"See Ron?" Hermione yelled from the tree. "Much better control, and less concentration!"  
  
"I see, now put me down, will you? And come over here, I've got something to give you now, or I wont ever give it to you."  
  
Laughing, Hermione slowly wafted Ron to the ground, and made her way down the tree the old fashioned (and quite muggle) way.  
  
Ron was waiting at the bottom, grinning at her.   
  
"Hermione? Can I hold your hand?"  
  
She laughed. "Aren't we a bit old a question like that?", she teased. There was no discomfort, as all the stories say there should be. It was true that her stomach was looping, but only in anticipation, and it felt right that Ron asked her this question. The past while (could it really be one already?) had eradicated any potential discomfort at her feelings for Ron. She might as well face it – she really did like him, maybe even love him, and she was almost sure that he felt the same way. She smiled. "Yes, you can hold my hand."  
  
He gave her a lopsided grin and took her hand. He moved closer, and put his other up to her hair, and gently stroked it, and kissed her.  
  
She closed her eyes smiled inside.   
  
Ron pulled away. "Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for making me feel like something worthwhile."  
  
"Ron…" she whispered.   
  
"Yea?"  
  
"You asked me if you could hold your hand, but you didn't ask to kiss me?"   
  
Ron gaped. "But, if, then, huh?"  
  
Hermione laughed and kissed the tip of his nose, after which Ron looked very relieved indeed.  
  
"That's ok. You know what? We haven't fought for an hour and a half."  
  
"And you haven't studied for three. A record on both counts!"  
  
Hermione laughed and pulled away from him. "Lets see if I can't do something else suprising, shall we?"  
  
With that, she turned and ran over the hill. She stopped at it's peak, and then clasped her hands innocently behind her back, staring down the hill at Ron.  
  
"I'll race you back to the castle!" She yelled. "And I'll beat you!" With this, she turned on her heel, lifted her robes, and ran as fast as she could towards the castle.   
  
Ron grinned, and without a word, bolted over the knoll. 


End file.
